One of the delightful aspects of being a concert organist is that there are tremendous opportunities to visit various parts of the world and to savor the local culture. But one either loves living out of a suitcase or hates it and, fortunately, I adore it!
Concerts in England between June 23 and July 5
Having left my apartment in New York, I arrived in the UK for the first concert of the tour, at Romsey Abbey. This historic building is some 850 years old and was recently in the public eye when it became the resting place of Admiral of the Fleet Earl Mountbattten of Burma, following his premature death at the hands of terrorists. The organ was built by JW Walker in 1858 and was moved in 1888 from its original position on the north transept gallery to its present position. It is a typically British organ and has remained virtually untouched (apart from routine tuning) until Walker & Sons carried out extensive work in 1995/96 to make it mechanically sound and reliable. Fortunately, the original pipework of the period has been preserved so that the organ is today a fine example of 19th-century English organ-building. The 1999 nave organ (also by Walker & Sons), a superb instrument beautifully finished in oak and mounted on a mobile platform, speaks through pipework in the south triforium.
The next concert was at Trowbridge, in Wiltshire, at The United Church in which the main building dates from 1871. Interestingly, the list in the vestry of Ministers over the years dates from 1767. The three-manual organ was built by W. Sweetland in 1884 and, with the original tracker action replaced by electric action, the console is now set close to the front of the church to one side of the pulpit and is very effective. The large audience was especially responsive.
Leaving churches for a while, the next concert was at Oxford Town Hall on an organ I have played and enjoyed on several occasions. Built by Father Willis to a design by Sir John Stainer, the four-manual instrument has been preserved in its original form (apart from the installation in 1926 of an electric blower to replace the three water-engines) in a building which was formally opened by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales May 12, 1897. The organ, which is in fine condition and set in an attractive concert hall, speaks out well and the lunchtime concert series is one of many tourist attractions in this famous city.
The final recital of this phase of the tour was at St. James's Piccadilly, a church designed by Sir Christopher Wren and consecrated on July 13, 1684 by the Bishop of London. An organ was built, on the instruction of King James II, by Renatus Harris in 1685 for the Royal Palace at Whitehall. This was given to St. James's by Queen Mary in 1691 and installed by Father Smith. Sadly, only some of the original pipework survived major alterations in 1852 and, even more seriously, there was further loss when the church was extensively damaged during an air raid on the night of October 14, 1940. The main organ in use at present is a two-manual Allen, together with a delightful single-manual 1986 chamber organ by Peter Collins. This fine church is steeped in history--for example, the Renatus Harris instrument was played by Purcell and by both Haydn and Handel. Later, the replacement organ by Bishop was played by Mendelssohn and by British-born Leopold Stokowski, who was organist at the church in 1905.
Concerts in Finland between July 6 and July 11
The first concert in the tour of Finland was at The Church of Hameenlinna, sometimes referred to as the Round Church of Hameenlinna because of its shape. Finished in 1798, it also is referred to sometimes as "The little Pantheon of the North." The three-manual organ, built by Kangasala in 1964, has mechanical action and is located in the northern gallery of a church with superb acoustics, but it seems that the organ is to be replaced in 2002. Hameenlinna has special significance to musicians because it is the birthplace (in 1865) of the nationalistic composer Jean Sibelius.
Helsinki, sometimes known as "The Daughter of the Baltic," is the center of Finnish commerce and cultural life. Each year, numerous visitors are attracted to the Temppeliaukio Church which, close to the city center, is a dome-shaped space-structure with a distinctly futuristic appearance under a copper roof. And, constructed entirely within the rock, it is known appropriately as the Church of the Rock. It has a four-manual instrument built in 1975 by Virtanen, with a facade of copper pipes. Nine ranks of pipes from earlier instruments are incorporated in the organ. I have played at this church on several occasions and have always enjoyed doing so because this unique building invariably attracts an international audience.
The next concert involved an hour's flight north from Helsinki to Rovaniemi, the capital of Lapland, which has earned a place in popular history as the home of Father Christmas and more seriously as a town which is very close to the Arctic Circle. The church, which dates from 1950, possesses an excellent acoustic that does full justice to the 1987 three-manual organ by Christiansen. This is the fourth church to be built on this site, the present church replacing the one destroyed when the town was utterly demolished in 1944. Interestingly, the construction of the new church was possible only with great financial help from the Lutheran churches in Sweden and in the United States.
Traveling north from Helsinki by train, the next concert was at Mikkeli. The red-brick church is an imposing local feature and the 1955 Kangasala organ has an exceptionally impressive pipe display and is a very romantic instrument, but with limited generals.
I then played at Sipoo where the present church in this peaceful country town was built between 1883 and 1885 by compulsory labor, a new church being necessary when the size of the congregation exceeded the capacity of the original medieval building. It was consecrated in December, 1885. A three-manual Marcussen organ with an impressive case was installed in 1951, renovated in 1999, and it speaks clearly into this very large church. It seems that this was the first neo-baroque organ in Finland and its Spanish trumpets were also a "first" in the country.
This was followed by a lunchtime concert at Tapiola Church in Espoo, a town known as the Garden City. The church is a modern building and attracts an impressive audience for the lunchtime concerts. A three-manual 1970 organ by Virtanen is brightly voiced and takes Baroque and contemporary music well.
The final concert in Finland was at Helsinki's Malmi Church where Heikki Poutanen is the organist and where I have given concerts on several occasions. It is a modern building with a good acoustic and an extremely fine organ by Heinrich, which has a superb Montre on the Swell and a very distinctive 32ft Untersatz in the pedal. One has to take care, however, because the action is heavy when the instrument is fully coupled and it is not easy to balance, but it has a good combination-setting mechanism and it really is a joy to play.
Concert at Roskilde Cathedral, Denmark, on 13 July
The resting place for every Danish King and Queen since the Reformation, the Cathedral was begun in 1170 on the site of a wooden church dating from the Viking period. Changes were made to the Cathedral as the years passed and, as the earliest example of Gothic architecture in Denmark, it is an outstanding landmark in the country's architectural history.
The comprehensive information available at the cathedral indicates that the organ dates back to the 15th century. The original Gothic instrument was replaced in 1554 by a Renaissance instrument only to give way a hundred years later to a Baroque organ. There have been many changes during the intervening time, the most significant perhaps being the rebuild in the 1830s by Marcussen & Reuter to meet the requirements of the Romantic period. Interestingly, the latest restoration was again by Marcussen and aimed at recreating the 1654 organ using original pipe material dating from the 1500s and the 1600s for about one-third of the total pipework. The end result is a delightfully gentle instrument with an action so sensitive that it can only be described as "featherlight." One quickly appreciates the need to listen carefully to the organ and to the response in the building. It is without doubt an instrument one feels utterly privileged to play. The concert was very well attended, and a program which concentrated on the historical period of the organ was well received by a serious audience in the peaceful ambiance of this wonderful building on a glorious summer evening.
Concerts in England, 19 July and 21 July
My visit to Norwich Cathedral made me realize immediately that this is an outstandingly impressive building. According to a comprehensive 1935 treatise on Cathedrals of England and Wales by T. Francis Bumpus, the foundation deed was signed in 1101 and the Bishopric was purchased for the enormous sum in those days of £1900. This is largely confirmed by the literature available in the cathedral which states that the cathedral was founded in 1096 by Bishop Herbert de Losinga. The entire building from east to west was completed in fifty years. The cathedral was damaged by a furious hurricane in 1362 and has been struck by lightning on more than one occasion. It has also suffered a number of fires from time to time, yet it has survived and remains today an impressive and truly beautiful example of Norman design.
The organ was built by Hill, Norman & Beard and was rebuilt in 1940-42 following a fire in 1938. It is believed to be the third largest cathedral organ in the UK with its 105 speaking stops and 6,655 pipes. The Solo Tuba, which speaks incisively into the Nave, is on a wind pressure of 18 inches and can be immensely useful in certain compositions! I was able to savor the quietness and utter splendor of this beautiful building when, as the sole occupant, I practiced late into the night.
The final concert of my tour was at St. Stephen Walbrook in the City of London. This is the Lord Mayor of London's parish church and, typical of so many of the City churches, it is of outstanding historical significance as may be seen from a comprehensive booklet available at the church. According to the record, Walbrook (now an underground river) was the site in 43AD of the first Roman settlement in London, and the present church replaced an earlier one begun in 1429. Then, after the Great Fire of London in 1666, St. Stephen Walbrook was among the first of the churches to be rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren at a time when he was pondering over the dome he was designing for St. Paul's Cathedral. A lighter dome was appropriate on the Walbrook site, and this is a masterpiece in its own right. Furthermore, the church has numerous attractive features including a beautiful semi-elliptical altar at the east end.
The church suffered extensive damage during an air raid in World War II when the dome was severely damaged by incendiaries and the building was shaken by a landmine which exploded nearby. Although restoration work was undertaken in 1952-3, it became clear by 1972 that the structural faults the building had sustained were such that it was in danger of collapsing, and a major program of restoration dealing with the problem from foundations to dome was therefore undertaken. The organization known so well as The Samaritans was started at this church in 1953 by the present Rector, Prebendary Dr. Chad Varah, OBE, MA, to befriend the suicidal and the despairing. Dr. Varah also founded its worldwide version, Befrienders International, in 1974.
The acoustics in the church are exceptionally good and do full justice to the splendid three-manual organ built by William Hill and restored (through the generosity of the American Express Foundation) by Hill, Norman & Beard in 1987. The work included a new console plus an up-to-date electronic system for setting pistons. It is fascinating to read in the booklet that there have been lunchtime organ recitals at this church on Fridays since the 18th century. It is also of immense interest to read that Bumpus (presumably T. Francis Bumpus) reflected on the congested location of the church in relation to adjacent buildings with the words "Never was so rich a jewel in so poor a setting, so sweet a kernel in so rough a husk." The beauty of this church is quite exceptional and it is well worth a visit.
Closing remarks
The tour, involving fourteen concerts in three countries, was extremely enjoyable and provided the opportunity to play some superb organs and to learn something of the historical background of each venue. With so intensive a tour, it is not possible to list the specifications of all the fine organs I was privileged to play or to present details of each program. Instead, a sampling of specifications and of programs is included.
The tour culminated in my being the guest on a popular BBC radio program "The Organist Entertains," a specialist program which has been running for over thirty years. The discussion, eloquently hosted by the presenter Nigel Ogden, highlighted my views on the differences in the organ scenes in the UK and in the USA and also covered my recent visit to Beijing to undertake the inaugural concerts on the newly-installed Austin organ in the Forbidden City Concert Hall.
Finally, the opportunity is gratefully taken to express my profound thanks to all the organists who invited me to give recitals and, in particular, to Heikki Poutanen for the excellent arrangements he made regarding the tour in Finland. In addition, I am most grateful to Sarah Baxter for the superb photograph of the organ case at St. James's Church, to John Appleton for the excellent photograph of the exterior of Norwich Cathedral and to David Dunnett for the exceptionally fine view of the interior of the Cathedral at which he is the Master of Music.
Information about Carol Williams can be found at <www.melcot.com>.
